Body of hiker recovered from Hualien mountain 4 days after death

Taipei, March 21 (CNA) A search and rescue team recovered the body of a hiker four days after he was found dead on Chilai East Ridge in Hualien County on March 17.

Wu Po-hsun (吳柏勳), the branch head of the Hualien County Fire Department's Meilun fire brigade, told the press that the body of the man surnamed Lee (李) was found buried under about 20 centimeters of snow.

The body was then covered in a sked stretcher before being airlifted from the mountains, Wu said.

Wu added that the fire department and the National Airborne Service Corps (NASC) gathered at around 8 a.m. Friday, dispatching a chopper carrying eight search and rescue personnel up the mountains, where they landed and walked to Lee's location.

Wu said that the snow was 30 cm thick, the roads were icy, and the trees and bamboo forests were frozen into icicles, making it easy to slip and fall without crampons and hard to walk.

Luckily, the weather was fine and the recovery mission was smoothly accomplished with all team members safely down the mountains, he said.

Lee had been on a climb in a group of 17, setting out on Saturday. On Sunday, they encountered bad weather, and Lee began to fall back, according to one member of the group surnamed Pan (潘).

With Lee still struggling, 15 others pushed on to a nearby cabin for shelter while one stayed behind with Lee.

However, the remaining member eventually headed for the cabin and left Lee with some food and gas, Pan said.

When they were unable to reach Lee on Monday morning, the team retraced their steps and found his body at the side of the trail without vital signs, Pan said, adding that they then made a distress call to local officials.

Due to persistent bad weather, the 16 mountain climbers could only retreat to the cabin to wait for better weather, while rescue teams were also hindered from reaching Lee or the 16 people for several days.

On Thursday, the 16 mountaineers were rescued by the NASC, and did not require hospitalization.